Doors of Peace

Monday, September 18, 2006

Angel Quote

Angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent. For the name angel refers to their office, not their nature. You ask the name of this nature, it is spirit; you ask its office, it is that of an Angel, which is a messenger.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Herkimer Diamond

Herkimer Diamonds are a light in the darkness of despair, a friend indeed, a way forward into the light of God/Goddess/All That Is, which is true happiness.

You do not have to deserve happiness - for you are happiness.

It may not seem so when you are in despair and deep in doubt about your true nature but that nature is truly love, which is happiness for all.

Sometimes we forget who we truly are - often for whole lifetimes and we are considerably taken aback/amazed when we awaken in death to remember that we have forgotten who we are and what we came here for.

To lead us to this realisation, and subsequent happiness the Herkimer Diamonds will do anything; cure any disease; lift any weight of depression and love us joyfully back into the light.

Herkimer's have no particular desire to cure diseases or lift the burdens of depressions but if that's what it takes to lead us back into the light and a realisation of our Divine Nature then that is what they will do - with great enthusiasm.

So be cautious in their usage and companionship for they are 'party people' and they will happily, gladly send you into a state of bliss. From which it may prove difficult to deal with the mundane things of life.

So when working and partying with them have a friend close by to haul you back into the physical plane but be sure that you bring the joy back with you.Who needs drink or drugs when you can party with the Herkimer's.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Crystal Quote

"The Earth is not a dead body, but is inhabited by a spirit that is its life and soul. All created things, minerals included, draw their strength from the earth spirit. This spirit is life, it is nourished by the stars, and it gives mourishment to all the living things it shelters in its womb. Through the spirit received from on high, the earth hatches the minerals in her womb as the mother her unborn child."

Topaz

Topaz warms the being, the heart and soul of all with whom it comes in contact, those from every stream of consciousness.

It is particularly warming and encouraging and uplifting to the Solar Plexus of Man because you need it so much!

Joy for the sake of it seems to have deserted you/us. We/you seem to think that we must 'deserve' all that is good in the universe, we must strive hard for perfection in all aspects of our lives. We must 'deserve' to be loved, to be successful, to be happy.

Topaz lets us know that it is by the grace and love of God, Our Creator, we are given all things freely.

You do not feel it necessary that your children 'deserve' your love, your attention and your eagerly given kindness' and neither does your own parent our Mother/Father God and Creator of All Things.

We do not need to 'deserve' the love and warmth shed upon us by Topaz - this too is freely given.

Thus we may have anything that we desire, if it is for our highest good.Love and wealth and happiness and knowledge are all freely available to us through Topaz - we have only to reach out for them.

The warmth of Topaz fills the lower centres with vitality and the Higher Energy Centres with love. Bringing balance to many problems of an emotional nature that can have an adverse effect on the internal organs.

Topaz will calm and cheer and balance and revitalise. It will bring courage and wisdom - through knowledge and experience.

Ask for what you truly need in life - especially for anything that will make you grow!

Holding Topaz feels like your own private party. So balance this with down to earth Agate, or any other crystal you feel drawn to at the time.

Meaning

You need a little more sunshine in your life. Why not allow yourself some now? Once you have the sunshine of happiness shining within, you can spread some of that light and warmth wherever you go!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Joy

Monday, September 11, 2006

All creatures great and small

The position and treatment of animals in Buddhism is important for the light it sheds on Buddhists' perception of their own relation to the natural world, on Buddhist humanitarian concerns in general, and on the relationship between Buddhist theory and Buddhist practice.

Unlike those religions and philosophies which regard animals as soulless automata incapable of thought or feeling, animals have always been regarded in Buddhist thought as sentient beings, less intellectually advanced than humans but no less capable of feeling suffering. Moreover, the doctrine of rebirth held that any human could be reborn as an animal, and any animal could be reborn as a human. An animal might be the rebirth of a dead relative, and if you looked far enough back in one's infinite series of lives, would eventually have to be related to you in some way. One could not, therefore, make a hard distinction between moral rules applicable to animals and those applicable to people; ultimately humans and animals were part of a single family.

In cosmological terms, the animals were believed to inhabit a distinct "world", separated from humans not by space but by state of mind. This world was called Tiryagyoni in Sanskrit, Tiracchānayoni in Pāli. Rebirth as an animal was considered to be one of the unhappy rebirths, usually involving more than human suffering. Buddhist commentarial texts speak movingly of the many sufferings that animals endure: even where no human beings are present, they are attacked and eaten by other animals or live in fear of it, they endure extreme changes of environment throughout the year, they have no security of habitation. Those that live among humans are often slaughtered for their bodies, or taken and forced to work with many beatings until they are slaughtered at the end of their lives. On top of this, they suffer from ignorance, not knowing or understanding what is happening to them with any clarity, and unable to do very much about it, acting primarily on instinct.

The Jātaka stories which tell of past lives of the Buddha in folktale fashion, frequently involve animals as peripheral or main characters, and it is not uncommon for the Bodhisattva (the past-life Buddha) to appear as an animal as well. The stories sometimes involve animals alone, and sometimes involve conflicts between humans and animals; in the latter cases, the animals often exhibit characteristics of kindness and generosity that are absent in the humans.

The first of the five precepts bans the taking of life. In its most stringent formulation, this applies only to the killing of human beings; however, from the beginnings of Buddhism, there were also regulations intended to prevent the harming of animals as well. Monks were forbidden from intentionally killing an animal, or drinking water with living creatures in it.

Concern for the treatment of animals is attested back to the beginnings of Buddhist history. The first Buddhist monarch of India, Aśoka, includes in his Edicts an expression of concern for the number of animals that had been killed for his meals, and expresses an intention to put an end to this killing. He also includes animals with humans as the beneficiaries of his programs for obtaining medicinal plants, planting trees and digging wells. In his fifth Pillar Edict, Aśoka decrees the protection of a large number of animals that were not in common use as livestock; protects from slaughter young animals and mother animals still milking their young; protects forests from being burned, expressly to protect the animals living in them; and bans a number of other practices hurtful to animals. In this Aśoka was carrying out the advice to the Cakravartin king given in the Cakkavattisīhanāda-sutta (DN.26) that a good king should extend his protection not merely to different classes of people equally, but also to beasts and birds.

Most Buddhists in most countries, including monks, are not vegetarians. The eating of meat is not explicitly prohibited in the sūtras and Vinaya of the Pāli canon, which encourage monks to accept whatever food they are given. However, they are forbidden from accepting animal flesh if they know, believe or suspect that the animal in question was killed especially for them, i.e., if the visits of begging monks have become an occasion for the slaughter of animals.

Although vegetarianism is not expressly commanded in the Pāli canon, it is evidently viewed as an ideal state from which human beings have fallen; the Aggañña Sutta (DN.27) explains how human beings, originally sustained on various kinds of vegetable matter, as the result of increasing wickedness began to live by hunting, which was originally thought of as a demeaning occupation.

In Mahāyāna Chinese Buddhism and in those countries whose Buddhism comes from China (Korea, Japan, Vietnam), Buddhist monks are more strictly vegetarian. One of the scriptural sources for this prohibition is the Mahāyāna Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. This sūtra condemns meat-eating in the strongest terms; among several other reasons, it is stated that it should be avoided because the presence of a meat-eater causes terror in animals, who believe them to be likely to kill them.

In East Asian Buddhism and particularly in China, the release of animals, particularly birds or fish, into their natural environment became an important way of demonstrating Buddhist piety. In China it was known as fang sheng. This practice is based on a passage in the Mahāyāna Sūtra of Brahma's Net (Ch: Fanwang Jing), which states that "...all the beings in the six paths of existence are my parents. If I should kill and eat them, it is the same as killing my own parents. ... Since to be reborn into one existence after another is the permanent and unalterable law, we should teach people to release sentient beings." In the later Ming dynasty, societies "for releasing life" were created, which built ponds in which to release fish that were redeemed from fishermen for this purpose. They also bought other animals which were sold in the markets and released them.

The Great CompassionBuddhism and Animal RightsNorm PhelpsISBN: 1590560698 Book (Paperback)Lantern Books

THE DAISY SUTRAconversations with my dog by Helen Weaverhttp://www.daisysutra.com/

Buddhist Quote

Buddhist Quote

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes.

Rose Quartz

A piece of love - a piece - quite literally - of Heaven on Earth.

An insidious strength, masked by a loving softness - but not to be underestimated.

Lucid dreams to comfort you, loving hearts pulled in your direction fuelled by the energy of universal love. A healer of the heart and the wounds so deeply inflicted in childhood and the more recent wounds of adult life.

Gently and slowly and lovingly this beautiful crystal will pull you out of the deepest depression if it is used in conjunction with Amethyst; will heal emotionally and mentally and physically - energising the spiritual aspects of your life and giving the courage and the desire to move forward with your life.

These two healers together will draw you through any crisis of mind and body and soul and reunite you with your spirit - so that you will feel whole again.

The time needed to do this varies with each individual but the weaving of both stones is always beneficial and harms no-one - neither will they pull your energy from you - rather they will enhance it.

These are indeed 'the light and the hope of the world'; for they have captured the loving creativity of the sun and they offer it to you for your use as a tool on your path back home to the Heart of the Creator.

This is our gift to you from us The Crystal Star People - that we will never cease to love you, as the Creator loves you for we are all God's children (and you are one of us).

Now you see why we are far away and at the same time so very close to your hearts.May you sleep well and with a piece of Rose Quartz under your pillow (and) dream only of love.